1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns devices for elevating people into fixed structures such as trees. More particularly, the invention is a hunting chair for elevating hunters and animals into trees.
2. General Discussion of the Background
Hunters find it advantageous to seek and shoot their prey from an elevated position. Stationary stands are often provided for this purpose so that the hunter will have greater visibility. Shooting at animals from an elevated vantage point also causes a bullet to strike the ground before it travels very far, thereby helping eliminate danger to any other hunters in the vicinity.
A serious disadvantage with stationary elevated platforms is that they lack mobility. A number of previous devices have therefore been developed to elevate a hunter at any desired location. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,918,316, 3,568,797, 3,731,762, 3,957,135, 4,347,913 and 4,347,914 have suggested the use of seats which are attached to an overhanging structure by a cable. The cable is reeled in by an overhead reel to pull the chair up along the cable and into an elevated position. All of these structures, however, suffer from the common defect that they require overhead manipulation of a reel. The hunter must lift his own weight using the muscles of his arms, which are often much weaker than the larger muscles of the leg.
Another problem with the prior art elevated hunting chairs is that they often swing freely in mid air. This lack of stability can be a very serious problem when a hunter is aiming his gun. Environmental conditions such as wind can move the free swinging chair and cause the hunter to miss his target. Recoil from a fired gun can also cause the chair to swing violently.
Hunters also find it desirable to elevate dead animals above the ground to help drain the blood out of them. This is generally done by attaching a rope to the animal, throwing the free end of the rope over a tree limb, and pulling the free end to elevate the animal. No prior art devices serve the dual purpose of elevating a hunter into a tree and likewise elevating a dead animal.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a hunting chair which enables a hunter to elevate himself into a stationary object such as a tree by using leg muscles instead of arm muscles.
Another object of the invention is to provide a hunting chair which maintains stability when elevated and does not move in response to environmental conditions or recoil of a gun.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an elevating hunting chair that will also assist in elevating dead animals.